Living The Dream in The UAE

Posted: 20th October 2014 16:09

A small but rich nation located in the Persian Gulf area of the Middle East, the United Arab Emirates or UAE exists as a federation of seven separate states. The country built its fortune first on pearls, and then more recently on the region’s abundant reserves of crude oil. The nation’s latest venture is tourism, with many of the states pouring money into beautiful parks, elaborate resorts and buildings so ambitious that one of them, Dubai’s Burj Khalifa, is the largest structure ever made by man. So, you’ve got plenty of reasons to visit the UAE, but what if you want to take it a step further and actually try and live there? How possible is it to actually do that?

The answer is very possible. The United Arab Emirates has a huge expatriate community, with the indigenous Emiratis making up only 13% of the overall population. Most of the remaining population have migrated to the region for work due to its booming economy and job market. Traditionally, a lot of these economic migrants came from Asia, but there has been a growing demand for European workers in the country as well recently, particularly in certain key industries. Moving to the Emirates could be a dream come true – the weather is usually hot, the salaries are often high and tax-free, and the people are very friendly, if conservative by western standards. Fluency in the local language - in the UAE’s case, Arabic - is always useful, but as a former colony of the British Empire, English is widely spoken, particularly as a language of work, trade and business.

Working in UAE

One section of the Emirati working world that is going from strength to strength is the events industry. As a nation with a wealthy, hedonistic expat population as well as being somewhere that is a top destination for the world’s jet-setting rich, events such as parties, conferences and cultural ceremonies are an extremely regular occurrence here. If you’ve got a penchant for organisation and like having an active working life, this would be an ideal position for you within the UAE. Hospitality roles are also available in great numbers, with the nation’s growing numbers of hotels, restaurants, clubs and bars just begging for experienced and confident staff.

Some of the biggest and best companies to work for in the Emirates are logistics companies, with familiar names such as FedEx and DHL ruling the roost when it comes to getting things delivered. The latter has actually been voted the best company to work for in the whole country. You do need a UAE driving license in order to make courier deliveries but don’t panic if you’re not a driver. Logistics is a huge industry which encompasses many varied job roles, any of which might take your fancy.

As a country with no nationalised healthcare and many private and public schools, public service roles in hospitals, dental surgeries and schools are always available to qualified candidates. While you may not have that medical degree under your belt quite yet, the demand for nurses, medical technicians, receptionists and researchers is very high. As for education, the UAE would really make for a teaching job with a difference. With such a wide variety of nationalities living in the Emirates, your class would be made up of the children from a huge diversity of backgrounds. A challenging, but a rewarding role.

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